MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf: Multiplayer Hands-on

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Microsoft's mech-stomping action game returns with a stunning multiplayer assault. New impressions and movies galore.

By Douglass C. Perry

Right now, it may not be all that fun to be a Day 1 employee. As Xbox darlings Halo 2 and Fable are currently basking in the limelight, the quiet, hard-working gameheads at Day 1 are putting the finishing touches on their second action-based mech-combat game, MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf. And while everyone seems to think Day 1's game is simply a bigger, better, prettier robot-action game, which to be fair, is what MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf looks like on the surface, our brief encounter with the multiplayer mode offers a different insight into what could easily be the sleeper hit of the season. Day 1 will indeed have its day in the sun come late December.

Having previewed the single-player game last week, we delve this week into what has clearly become a much more diverse and sophisticated multiplayer game. Day 1 President Denny Thorley dropped by our office and carefully explained this year's advantages, then handed us the controls, and wow, what a rush. The largeness of the game, the explosive sensation the special effects deliver, and the openness of the multiplayer are all astounding. If you haven't read Hilary's single-player impressions, I'll brief you on this year's improvements to the single-player game that carry over into multiplayer and the expand on the Xbox Live portion.

Change Is Good For starters, the camera perspective is different, the environments are bigger, and you can actually get out of your mech in Lone Wolf. The culmination of these three things work in harmony to create a distinctly greater sense of scale. When you're out on foot and standing alongside a standard mech, you look and feel like an ant next to an armed, robotic skyscraper. The tightened, lowered camera helps to greatly support this experience, and the expanded, more highly detailed levels finish the job.

So OK, you're smaller and everything else is bigger. Nice. What else? You now have a range of mechs to pilot. The range has drastically grown in number but it's also grown in variety and depth. You can drive the standard, well-rounded mech you've already familiarized yourself with in MechAssault, or you can hop out to get a taste of the new mech Kool-Aid. The nifty new Battle Armor, the smallest of the armory, is naturally quick, lightly armored, and nimble. In it, you'll be able to grab onto a VTOL (a Vertical Take-off and Land dropship), and while hanging below it, you can turn to face any enemy and shoot any of your weapons. This plays into the game's new cooperative multiplayer spirit; you work with teammate to defeat enemy in a variety of new and surprisingly well-thought out ways.

In the "lithe" Battle Armor, you're the runner, the scout, the thief of mechs. You can scale buildings. And while climbing them you're able to use the buildings' mirrored surfaces to shoot from the back of your gun at enemies behind you. You can jump from rooftop to rooftop in the creatively designed and destructible cities. To aid your treks onto skyscrapers, you're capable of a double jump. You'll make use of a booster jet pack, which assists in landings as well as reaching loftier heights. You can hitch rides with other mechs to provide a surprise attack on a single enemy. You can even confront your enemies head on by attacking their nerve-center.

MECHASSAULT 2: LONE WOLF continues the massive destruction; intense combat, and addictive online play that gamers have been praising since MechAssault first hit the Xbox. Continuing in the thirty-first century, MechAssault 2 allows gamers to encounter entirely new experiences in the epic BattleTech world. With 15 fully destuctible environments, this third-person action-shooter takes immense destruction to another level.